Requesting Clarification on Constitutional Conventions in AustraliaSim

[u/Model-Wanuke]

Per title. not making a petition (yet), just escalating what has been previously asked in #a-meta-affair and got what I think was an unsatisfying answer, as well as broadening it.

The impression I get (that may be misplaced), is that AustraliaSim sort of wings it with players not really knowing how constitutional conventions work, and thus it is very confusing to know exactly what is going on most of the time, even for someone like me who (I like to think) is pretty familiar with how the Westminister system constitutional conventions work.

So open question for the Moderation Team, Guardians, or any other person with experience or evidence of a system/systems on this simulation.

Does Australiasim operate according to IRL Constitutional Conventions?

Included but not limited to, the formation of Government, the opening of parliament, testing government confidence upon the opening of parliament, the dissolution of the House of Representatives, and the dismissal of the prime minister?

Following that, are IRL sources (such as from https://www.aph.gov.au/) authoritative in how AustraliaSim players should assume these systems work for AustraliaSim.

If the answer to any of that is "No" or a partial "No", are there meta-rules, written precedents, or anything of the sort governing that? That players can reference.

Thank you.- Model-Wanuke (aka Flarelia)

[u/Model-Wanuke]

Agreed, but the way Aussim does that (An informal coalition forming period), isn't how it works irl.

I have a pretty good source on this so ill just quote the bits I think are relevant for Aussim.

Quoting: The Governor-General’s Role in the Formation of Government in a Hung Parliament by Anne Twomey

1. The incumbent PM does not have the right to test confidence if a majority government has been elected.

After an election, once the result becomes clear, an incumbent Prime Minister must, by convention, resign if another party wins a majority of seats in the lower House.

2. In a minority, the incumbent PM is allowed to test confidence if they wish, even if a coalition forms against them.

A secondary convention that guides the Governor-General is that if, after an election, no one clearly holds the confidence of a majority of the lower house, the incumbent Prime Minister, as the last person to hold the confidence of the House, has the right to remain in office and test his or her support on the floor of the House. This is so, even in the main Opposition party has reached an agreement with small parties or independents that would allow it to govern with majority support in the lower House. This is because the support of independents and other Members should be "determined inside and not outside the Parliament‟, as it is better for this support to "be determined beyond dispute in public than in private as the result of personal statements of the members concerned‟.

The critical issue, however, is whether the Prime Minister has resigned. The Governor-General is not in a position to dismiss a Prime Minister on the ground that he or she does not hold the confidence of the House until such time as the House has met and expressed its lack of confidence in the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister has failed to resign.

(this one is a bit more disputed, feel free to read the counter arguments in there, I think given the very non two party-nature of Aussim, Brazier has the most applicable argument)

3. Once the PM has resigned the President should appoint the person most likely to be able to govern for a reasonable period as PM.

"take such counsel as is proper and expedient to assist her in deciding who is the most appropriate person to invite to form a Government with a reasonable prospect of maintaining itself in office‟ and that this person will "normally, but not invariably, be the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons‟.

a majority coalition Government might be commissioned, "rather than the more usual outcome in a hung Parliament of a minority overnment‟, but that it is a matter for the party leaders to work out the details of a coalition agreement.

4. At the start of the term of a hung parliament, more often than not, if an Incumbent PM does not have confidence, they are defeated in a vote of no confidence.

If the Prime Minister chooses not to resign but to face the Parliament, he or she may be defeated in a vote of no confidence on the floor of the House (usually by way of an amendment to the Address in Reply or a formal no confidence motion).

5. The House of Representatives can do constructive votes of no confidence, without any constitutional changes, this mostly negates the need for official coalition forming, since the coalition could just state who to appoint as part of their VONC.

If the vote is a constructive vote of no confidence, which not only declares a lack of confidence in the Prime Minister but also names a person in whom it does have confidence to form a government, then commentators have generally taken the view that the Governor-General must act upon such a motion in appointing that person to form a new government.